Safety scaffold pole



Dec. 11, 1951 H. HCL/RK SAFETY SCAFFOLD POLE Original Filed June l5, 1942 INVENTR aard/Zla/r) A Trop/V157( Patented Dec. 11, =1951 2,578,228 SAFETY scAFHFoLD POLE Howard H. Clark, Kent, Ohio Application July 11, 1945, Serial No. 604,469, now Patent No. 2,449,056, dated September 14, 1948, which is a division of application Serial N o. 447,113, June 15, 1942, now Patent No. 2,383,449, dated August 28, 1945. Divided and this application June 16, 1948, Serial No. 33,251

6 Claims. (C1. 304-37) My invention relates to a safety scaffold pole for use primarily with scaffold systems such as those of my Patents Nos. 2,267,638, 2,383,449 and 2,449,056, but capable of use in other relations and for other purposes. This application isv a division of application 604,469, filed July 11, 1945, nowv Patent No. 2,449,056, which in turn was a division of application No. 447,113, filed June 15, 1942,.now Patent No. 2,383,449. It is an object ofthe invention to provide a scaold pole to be made largely of metal, and that shall be exceptionally rigid and strong, for its weight.

Another object is to provide a scaffold pole to be made largely of metal that can be made in unit sections convenient for handling and assembly, and including substantial splicing means for joining such sections in vertical alinement.

Another object is to provide a scaffold pole to be made in unit sections, having main side members of metal channel bars, with blocks intervening and secured thereto at regular intervals, and with apertures through between said blocks and side members suitable for the slidable mounting of horizontal load-bearing scaffold members without any need for nailing or spiking. Scaiold failures are due, for the most part, to the failure of spiked joints. It would be difficult to overrate the advantages to be gained by substituting a scaffold structure with uprights having integral supporting means for horizontal load-bearing members (non-spiked) for the conventional scaffold with nailed joints for 'carrying such loadbearing members.

Another object is to eliminate the hazards, and the labor ordinarily involved in the spiking of load-bearing scaffold timbers to uprights, as well as the dicult and dangerous operation of tearing down spiked or nailed scaffolding, which is also very destructive and wasteful of lumber.

Another object is to provide in the pole structure suitable means for the attachment of brace members, either by nailing, or by the use of bolts.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a safety scaffold pole of a preferred form, constructed according to my invention,

Fig. 2, a perspective of the lower end of the upper section of said pole,

Fig. 3, a perspective of the upper end of the lower section of said pole,

Fig. 4, a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5, a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6, a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 7, an elevation, partly in section, of a modi; ned form of the invention,

Fig. 8, a section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9, an elevation, partly in section, of an other modification, and

Fig. 10, a section on line Ill- I0 of Fig. 9.

In the drawings, reference characters II and I2 indicate respectively the upper and lower bars of a side rail of a safety scaffold pole provided at the opposite side with two similar metallic bars I3 and I4 forming the other side part of the pole, these parts being shown as consisting of outwardly facing channel bars of steel or the like. For use in scaffolding, which is the principal purpose of these poles though they may be usedin other ways and for other purposes, the elongated side members are spaced apart at intervals' by spacers I5 of Wood or the like, such as may.

be used for supporting putlogs in a scaffolding.

The bars of the first-named side rail meet at I6 and those of the opposite side rail meet at I1. The joint between bars II and I2 is covered by a splice in the form of a channel bar I8 terminating at I8', I8 while the joint between bars I3 and I4 is covered by a similar splicing chamber bar I9, terminating at I9', I9.

A spacer at the joint is divided along a diagonal plane into two parts or splice blocks 20 and 2I, the upper one of which is permanently xed to the 'upper side bars II and I3 and the splice bar I 8 by countersunk screws, bolts or rivets (not shown) Whereas the lower side bars I2 and I4, the splice bar I9 and the splice block 2| are similarly permanently secured together.

It will be seen that if the spacers I5 measuretwelve inches in height, and if the combined height of spacer blocks 20, 2| is fifteen inches, and if the distance from the top of one spacer to the top of the next istwenty-four inches (thus preserving desirably uniform distances between 4putlog supporting surfaces) then the space above the splice blocks will be twelve inches, but that below them will be nine inches and the splice bar I8 that extends across the twelve inch space and overlaps the next spacer I5 by three inches for attachment thereto is three inches longer than the splice bar I9 that extends across a nine inch space so as to lap three `inches over the next lower spacer I5.

Figs. 2 and 3 show two pole sections before assembly into the safety scaffold pole of Fig. 1, the sections each having a hole at 22 to receive a. removable bolt 23 for holding the sections in rigid assembled relation and for holding the splice bars in place. Devices such as countersunk screws for fastening the side rails to the spacers and splice blocks are indicated at 23.

In the modified form of Figs. 7 and 8, the safety scaffold pole still consists of superposable sections separably connected when set up in a scaffold. At one side of the pole the side bars 24 and 25 meet at 26, while at the other side of the pole side bars 2l' and 28 meet at 29, but in this form the channel bars have their flanges directed inwardly of the pole, or toward the iianges of the opposed side bar. Splices, consisting of channel-bars and 3l are constructed to t closely over the inner surfaces oi the side rails, just as the splice bars in Figs. 1 to 5 t closely against the inner faces of the flanges on the side rails and against the outer face between said flanges. Splice-bar 30 terminates at 36.*', 30', While splice bar 3l ends at 3|', 3l. Spacers 33 and divided splice blocks 34, 3 5 may be as, in Figs. 1 to `5, and the bolts 36 connect the sections as above described, the essential difference between the forms consisting inthe arrangement of the mainv side rails,V with flanges turned respectively away from and toward those of the opposite rail, while the splice bars face similarly to the main side rails.

In Figs. 9 and 10, the arrangement and proportions of parts .such as side bars 3l, 38, 39, 40; splice bars 4l, 42 and spacers are the same as in Figs. 1 to 5, but the splice blocks d3, 44, are cut straight across instead of diagonally, so that in eiect they are just like other spacers except that they are longer in the aggregate in a vertical sense and are each made into two parts byl a horizontal cut.

For the best results it is necessary that the splicing channel bars be so shaped that they t precisely against the side rails, either inside or outside such rails, since their effectiveness as splicing means results from the fact that as members are drawn tightly into nnal position they act on one another as a clamp that affords support in all directions.

Holes may be provided in the spacer blocks, as at 55 in Fig. 1, for convenience in attaching diagonal or horizontal braces to a scaffold.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that. many alterations can be made, in thev devices herein disclosed, all without departing from the spirit. of the invention; and, therefore, I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specication, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I. claim is:

1. A sectional safety scaffold pole comprising superposable sections each including a pair of =main channel-shaped side bars located at opposite sides of the section, a channel-shaped splice -bar fitting closely against a face of a main bar Vtion and. fastening them to each other, and means ',for securing a pair of alined sections together.

2. A device as in claim 1, including spacer blocks` located at the joints between main side bars of a pair 0f sections when superposed, the spacer blocks being divided into two matching parts one of which is attached to one of two alinable side bars and the other of which is attached to the other of said side bars, and removable means for securing a pair of alined sections together.

3. A device as claim 2, wherein the iianges of the side bars and splicing bars extend inwardly at opposite sides of the pole, and the spacer blocks fit between said anges.

4. A device as in claim 1, wherein the flanges of the splice bar and the main side bars project from the pole at opposite sides thereof.

5. A device as in claim l, wherein the anges of the main side bars and the splice bars at each side of a section extend toward the opposite side of the section.

6. A device as in claim 1, including putlog supporting devicesv between theY main side bars and secured thereto, said putlog supporting devices fit-ting between the fianges of said side bars and splicing bars.

HOWARD H. CLARK.

.REFERENCES CITED The fol-lowing references are of record in the le ofv this patent:

` UNITED STATES PATENTS f Number Name Date 320,079 Martin June 1G, 1885 588,290 Poindexter Aug. 17, 1897 1,871,041 Cavanagh Aug. 9, 19.32 2,118,374 Doyle May 24, 1938 2,2616'38 Clark Dec. 23, 1941 2,365,501 Walstrom Dec. 19, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 493,936 Great BritainV Sept. 28, 1938y 

